"What!" Kym's blue eyes grew wide with amazement. "He told you about your brother's 'Mech?"
Riva nodded in exasperation. "His mind works so fast. He placed me as Quintus Allard's daughter, knew Quintus had a son Dan who was with the Kell Hounds, and he knew Morgan Kell had given my brother a Wolfhound."Riva opened her hands and shrugged. "That's the simplest of his deductive chains, and the only one I understand fully. Banzai has done everything, from fighting in 'Mechs to helping heal those who've been hurt by the wars. He's just a bit scary."
Kym nodded thoughtfully. "I know how you feel." She smiled weakly as she remembered. "I recall Morgan watching news reports about the war and predicting how things would work out in any particular battle. At first, I thought he already knew the outcome, and accused him of tricking me. He denied it and took me by the hand to his computer. He quickly ran up a simulation of the battle in question and showed how it would go. At the same time, he noted what variations he would have thrown at the Liao commanders. Whenever the computer ran his variants, the battle always turned out worse for Liao than it did in real life."
Riva reached out and squeezed Kym's shoulder. "Have you heard from him since he left?"
Kym's hand strayed to the neckpiece. "Yes and no." She forced herself to smile bravely. "Morgan told me he'd be running under complete silence for this mission, so 'no news is good news.' On the other hand, he had this neckpiece delivered to me yesterday. It's the ceremonial gorget he wore at the Prince's wedding."
Riva kept a reassuring smile on her lips as her mind raced. Morgan must be mixed up in whatever has my father worried. Morgan leaves the morning after my father gets as jumpy as a cat at the dog pound. Something big is going on. I know it.She glanced out the window toward the darkening evening sky. I'm just glad it's out there. The last thing I want to see is the war coming to New Avalon . . .
36
ComStar First Circuit Compound
Hilton Head Island, North America, Terra
19 August 3029
ComStar Primus Julian Tiepolo half-closed his eyes as Precentor Myndo Waterly stepped to the center of the circle. She planted her feet defiantly in the middle of the gold ComStar insignia worked into the floor. The wood-paneled chamber's recessed lights flashed from her long, golden hair and burned highlights into her scarlet robe. The look in her dark eyes pierced his heart like a dagger.
"I, Myndo Waterly, Precentor Dieron for these past ten years, call for a Vote of Expulsion against you, Primus."
So this is it, eh, Myndo? You believe you have me?Tiepolo folded his hands into the voluminous sleeves of his tan robe, relishing the roughness of the simple woolen fabric. "Such a call need not be seconded, Precentor Dieron."
The Primus looked around at the other Precentors and read shock on half their faces. You've not laid enough groundwork, Myndo. You always were overconfident.He nodded patronizingly. "I see that no one challenges your right to speak first on this subject."
Myndo's eager smile irritated the Primus, but he set it aside as she began to speak. "I realize, fellow Precentors, that my action may seem rash, ill-mannered, and poorly timed. We are, I acknowledge, in the midst of a great crisis, yet I feel that unless ComStar gets a new pilot at the helm, we will no longer be the flagship of human destiny."
The Primus watched her move elegantly within the circle of podia. You always were an excellent orator, Myndo. I saw that long ago, which is why I made you my protege. Not only did you understand the Word of Blake, but you expressed it so eloquently. If only you had accepted the true wisdom I tried to share with you. Instead of embracing the new philosophy and greatness, you have consigned yourself to fight a reactionary war. It will destroy you.
Myndo gestured toward the Primus. "This man, and Adrienne Sims before him, represent a rogue twist in the philosophy of ComStar. His actions are a perversion of the Word of Blake, yet his mastery of that sacred document has allowed him to quote it to justify his position and to punish opposition. This renegade school of thought will destroy us if we do not root it out now."
She drew her outflung hands back to her chest, then let them drop to her sides as she looked down contritely. "We all remember the changes Adrienne Sims made in the service. She created the Explorer Corps of ComStar, which has made discoveries of incalculable worth in recovering technology from the Star League era and before. We cannot doubt the usefulness of this service, or its vital part in bringing us closer to our destiny."
The Primus curled his hands into fists to stop their trembling. Is this part of it, Myndo? I once predicted great things for you, even that you would one day become Primus. How your eyes lit up at my confidence... But not now, not this way. Aslow burning began in his chest. Damn, my ulcer is coming back.
Myndo glanced at the Primus like a wolf watching a sheep pen. "Had Julian Tiepolo remained as nothing but a caretaker for his predecessor's programs, ComStar would have been blessed with his election. His thirty-year reign would have been heralded as an age of unprecedented stability during which we could have gained more information and strength. Unfortunately, Julian Tiepolo began to think of his place in our history, and after twenty years, moved to create fame for himself.
"He gambled. He looked at the Word of Blake and read only of the good times in which ComStar would share technology with a united Humanity. He thought that he could unite the Successor States quickly and be the Primus who finally led mankind out of the dark ages. Wanting to be a new Prometheus, he attempted to accomplish in a decade what it will take centuries to bring about."
The flesh around the Primus's eyes tightened at the jolt of pain her words gave him. Excellent use of a mythical reference! Yes, I would be thelight-bringer, but I am not so guileless as to proceed in the manner you suggest. Yes, I combine our foes, but only to more easily direct them at each other.A trickle of sweat rolled down his right temple. Quickly, Precentor, finish your speech so I may pull it apart!
Myndo opened her hands wide as though to embrace the whole chamber. "We all know the list of things Julian Tiepolo has tried to do in the last ten years, and many of you have been present when I opposed his wild machinations in this very chamber. I steadfastly fought against the alliance between the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns. The Primus believed that uniting these two nations would spur the fall of the other states. That was his reason for forcing me to negotiate a treaty between Houses Kurita, Marik, and Liao. It may appear that he created two strong foes out of five smaller enemies—a formula to bring about the destruction we have long awaited—it did nothing of the sort."
Myndo lifted her chin. "All this time, I was seeing the true danger within the Successor States: Prince Hanse Davion. Other shortsighted rulers before him believed they could force their enemies to elect them as new First Lord of a new Star League, but this man is different. Someone like Maximilian Liao dreamed of being elevated by his peers and given free rein to create a new League. He imagined that he could reform, in months or years, what centuries of war and hatred had torn asunder.